Effect of personalized home-based support for pregnant women on pregnancy outcomes: a cluster randomized trial.

Background: Anemia during pregnancy has been linked to higher maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of individualized home-based care for pregnant women on pregnancy outcomes. Methods: This was a cluster-randomized experiment done in Burkina Faso's Sindou health area between 2015 and 2016. The intervention included a monthly home-based visit focused on nutritional counseling and pregnancy monitoring for pregnant women, and a training on nutrition for pregnant women, prevention of anemia in pregnancy, and management of anemia in pregnancy for health facility teams. In the control group, prenatal care was administered in accordance with national program guidelines. The primary outcome was the reported prevalence of anemia in pregnancy. The secondary outcomes of stillbirth, preterm birth, low birth weight, and abortion were evaluated using a difference in differences analysis and mixed models across the two groups. The sample consisted of 617 pregnant women, with 440 women assigned to the intervention group and 177 assigned to the control group. No maternal fatalities occurred in either group. The intervention decreased stillbirths by -1.6% (95% confidence interval: -3.1% to - 0.1%). It had no impact on the rates of low birth weight, premature birth, and abortion. Conclusion: In rural Burkina Faso, personalized support of pregnant women at home, in conjunction with appropriate prenatal care, reduced stillbirths, but not the rates of low birth weight, preterm birth, or abortion.

Climate factors and dengue fever in Burkina Faso from 2017 to 2019.

Dengue is now a major health concern in sub-Saharan Africa. Understanding the influence of local meteorological factors on the incidence of dengue is an important element for better prediction and control of this disease. This study aims to assess the impact of meteorological factors on dengue transmission in the central region of Burkina Faso. We analyzed the lagged effects of meteorological factors on the weekly incidence of dengue from 2017 to 2019 in the central region of Burkina Faso using a General Additive Model. The results show that maximum and minimum temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed have a significant non-linear effect on dengue cases in the region with 83% of case variance explained. The optimal temperature that increases dengue cases was 27°C to 32°C for the maximum temperature and 18°C to 20°C for the minimum temperature with a decrease beyond that. The maximum temperature shifted by six weeks had the best correlation with dengue incidence. The estimated number of dengue cases increases as the maximum relative humidity increases from 15 to 45% and then from 60 to 70%. In general, an increase in daily wind speed is estimated to decrease the number of daily dengue cases. The relationship between rainfall and dengue cases was not significant. This study provides local information about the effect of meteorological factors on dengue that should help improve predictive models of dengue cases in Burkina Faso and contribute to the control of this disease.

Prognostic Factors of the Lethality of Stroke at the Sourô Sanou University Teaching Hospital of Burkina Faso.

INTRODUCTION: Stroke is a major public health concern. It is a frequent pathology, 80% of which is of ischemic origin. Approximately 86% of all stroke deaths worldwide occur in low- and middle-income countries. The objective of this study was to investigate prognostic factors for in hospital lethality of stroke cases admitted in a public university hospital in Burkina Faso. METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study with a descriptive and analytical aim on adults admitted for a stroke confirmed by a brain scan at the Sourô Sanou University Teaching Hospital (CHUSS) of Bobo-Dioulasso over the period from January 1, 2009, to December 31, 2013. RESULTS: The proportion of cases confirmed by the brain CT scan was 32% of all patients admitted for stroke in the CHUSS. The overall case fatality was 27.6%. This lethality was more pronounced in patients with hemorrhagic stroke (35.8%) compared to patients with ischemic stroke (22.4%). Median survival was higher in patients with ischemic stroke than those with hemorrhagic one (36 and 25 days, respectively) with a statistically significant difference (p value = 0.001). In multivariate analysis and hemorrhagic stroke (hazard ratio [HR]: 2.25; CI 95%: 1.41-3.61), an altered state of consciousness (HR: 1.90; CI 95%: 1.20-2.99) and the presence of central facial paralysis (HR: 1.67; CI 95%: 1.04-2.67) are factors that increased significantly the lethality. CONCLUSION: The study has identified three prognostic factors of lethality that are the hemorrhagic stroke type, the altered state of consciousness, and the central facial paralysis. Given the high case fatality, it is important to develop and implement effective prevention and management strategies adapted to the resources for the optimal control of stroke in Africa.

Effect of Personalized Support at Home on the Prevalence of Anemia in Pregnancy in Burkina Faso: A Cluster Randomized Trial.

Burkina Faso has high prevalence of anemia in pregnancy (hemoglobin < 11 g/dL), despite the implementation of the WHO recommended guidelines. This study aimed to test the effects of personalized support for pregnant women at home on the trend of anemia prevalence in pregnancy. A cluster randomized trial was conducted from January 2015 to August 2016 at Sindou health district in Burkina Faso. Data were collected from 617 women in their first or second trimester of pregnancy, including 440 and 177 women in the intervention and control groups, respectively. The intervention consisted of a monthly home-based visit to the pregnant woman, focusing on nutritional counseling and pregnancy management, alongside an improvement antenatal visit quality. Compared with the prevalence of anemia in pregnancy in the control group [64.0% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 52.1-74.4%)], that of the intervention group was significantly lower from the fifth home visit onward [36.8% (95% CI: 32.1-41.8%)] (P < 0.001). The adjusted difference-in-differences in anemia prevalence between the two groups was -19.8% (95% CI: -30.2% to -9.4%) for women who received more than four home visits (P < 0.001). The corresponding difference in hemoglobin levels was 0.644 g/dL (95% CI: 0.309-0.167; P < 0.001). Personalized support for pregnant women at home, combined with appropriate antenatal care, can significantly reduce anemia prevalence during pregnancy in rural Burkina Faso.

Evaluation de la satisfaction des patients hospitalisés dans les services du département de Médecine du Centre hospitalier universitaire Souro Sanou (CHUSS) de Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso

La satisfaction des usagers des établissements sanitaires fait partie de l'appréciation de la qualité des soins. L'objectif était d'étudier la satisfaction des patients hospitalisés dans les services du département de médecine du Centre hospitalier universitaire Souro Sanou (CHUSS) de Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso. Il s'est agi d'une étude transversale à visée analytique conduite en 8 mois. Les domaines de satisfaction ont été calculés selon le modèle SAPHORA (version 7). Des 294 patients éligibles, 250 (85,0 %) patients ont été retenus dont 42,0 % de femmes. L'âge moyen des patients était de 47,1 (± 17,9) ans. Les domaines à score faible étaient : niveau global de satisfaction, accueil, communication avec le personnel, restauration et organisation de la sortie. Les patients plus âgés et ceux à durée d'hospitalisation plus longue étaient plus satisfaits. Les 94,0 % des patients sans assurance maladie étaient moins satisfaits.Les scores des domaines de satisfaction par service et le score global de satisfaction étaient inférieurs à 50,0 %. Les différences entre les services étaient en lien avec : accueil, qualité humaine du personnel, soins médicaux, hôtellerie, restauration, coûts, et niveau global de satisfaction. L'amélioration de la satisfaction des patients hospitalisés requiert le respect des besoins fondamentaux des patients et une réorganisation des services avec un personnel engagé, pour l'offre de soins et services de santé de qualité

Using a sociological model to analyze access to pediatric HIV/AIDS care in rural sub-Saharan Africa.

The decentralization of pediatric HIV/AIDS-treatment programs to primary health care centers in rural Africa has lagged behind. In order to guide an analysis of current access to care, a sociological conceptual framework was developed. This framework focused on conditions of seeking pediatric HIV care among community members and initiating pediatric HIV care by primary health care workers (PHCWs). The use of the sociological conceptual framework helped in determining basic research questions and current gaps in knowledge (e.g. the effectiveness and long-term impact of Western counseling models in rural African settings), exploring the need for healthcare level specific research and policy (e.g. in infant HIV-testing), identifying potential pitfalls in decentralizing pediatric HIV treatment programs to rural African communities (e.g. lack of self-confidence in HIV counseling among PHCWs). Consequently, the use of the sociological model is helpful in maximizing efforts and resources allocated to such roll-out. A renewed appreciation for primary health care in general, however, remains crucial for a successful decentralization of pediatric HIV/AIDS-treatment programs to rural Africa.

[Hospital staff use of generic essential drugs: the case of Yalgado Ouedraogo University Hospital Centre (Burkina Faso)]. / Utilisation des médicaments essentiels génériques par le personnel hospitalier: le cas du CHU Yalgado Ouédraogo (Burkina Faso).

With the institution of the primary health care strategy in 1978 and the devaluation of the CFA franc in 1994 the French-speaking countries of Africa are striving to encourage the prescription of generic essential drugs. However, their prescription rates continue to remain low in these countries, especially in the major hospitals. The aim of this study was thus to determine how prescribers at the national hospital in Ouagadougou were informed about genetric drugs and to analyse their attitudes and practices with a view to elucidating the barriers to a more widespread use of generic essential drugs in hospital practice. The study consisted of a survey of all of the qualified prescribers (n=194) at Yalgado Ouedraogo University Hospital Centre in 1998. Thirty refused to participate and 35 questionnaires were discarded because they were poorly filled out. So, the responses of 129 (66.5%) prescribers in all were analysed. More than 80% (106/129) of the prescribers were aware of the existence of generic drugs in the hospital, but only 24.8% of them considered generics to have the same efficacy as their corresponding proprietary drugs. However, 64.3% of the prescribers felt that there was a place for generic drugs in a last-resort echelon of medical care, such as the national hospital in Ouagadougou, and 85.3 % were willing to prescribe them for their patients because of their low cost. The analysis of the data and the responses to the open questions show that the main conditions that would boost the prescription of generic essential drugs by hospital staff are as follows: generic essential drugs available in appropriate dosage forms and of guaranteed quality; appropriate basic training starting in medical and nursing schools; providing the prescribers with information and further education about generic drugs; and better dispensing of these drugs by the hospital's central pharmacy.